Gestational diabetes increases a child's risk of type 1 or 2

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Youngsters whose mothers developed diabetes during pregnancy are nearly twice as likely to suffer from the condition, research suggests.

A study found the children of women who battled the gestational form are up to 77 per cent more likely to have type 1 or 2 diabetes before the age of 22.

Although it is unclear why this occurs, the researchers stress the findings could help young patients get diagnosed before they develop deadly complications.  

The research was carried out by McGill University in Montreal and led by Dr Andrea  Blotsky, a doctor of internal medicine.

Diabetes affected 422million people globally in 2014, according to the World Health Organization. Some 90 per cent of adult patients suffer from type 2.  

However, more than 90 per cent of childhood diabetes in Canada is type 1, the researchers wrote in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks the pancreatic cells that produce insulin.  

Whereas type 2 is defined as the body losing its ability to respond to insulin and is associated with carrying too much weight. 

Early detection of childhood diabetes is important due to around a quarter of these patients only being diagnosed when they develop life-threatening diabetic ketoacidosis, the researchers wrote.

This occurs when the body cannot produce enough insulin, which causes it to break down fat as fuel. This leads to a build-up of acids called ketones in the bloodstream. 

Having a parent with type 1 or 2 diabetes has been linked to a child developing either condition. However, the role of gestational diabetes was unclear. 

Gestational diabetes occurs when a woman's body cannot produce enough insulin to meet the extra needs of

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